Surviving the cold without heat and without winterizing

Were having trouble in the Texas Panhandle. 95 degrees and then below freezing. Really don;t want to winterize so I'll start the generator ever so often then leave the heat on. The batteries are keeping the heater going just enough to keep from freezing. I leave the thermostat on about 40 degrees, so not using much electric or propane. I'm getting tried of it. We leave for Colorado on the 22nd of May for the summer. Really hope we start gettin some warmer weather.

Having been on the road with real world experiance with short and long term (1week) experiance with cold weather precautions (25 years) and the result of various attempts to keep pipes from bursting. Notice I did not say from freezing. Many posters have indicated and correctly so in my opinion that night temps that drop to 25 or so then rise during the day ahve little effect of damaging water lines that only have water in them. We have on one occasion had to abandone our motor home so quickly that witerinzing for short term exposure as we regularly do was impossible. Night time temps did in fact drop to 25 or so and rose to above freezing during the day for that week were we gone. When we returned from the 5 day absence, the water lines were in fact unable to past free flowing water. I now Know that the lines had developed a slush in them that prevented the water from flowing freely thru the faucet, but ovenight warming did result in restoring free flow of water. As far as short term exposure (overnight) while we are on the road, I can share our experiances as they are many and my practice has distilled down to this. Overnight, without hookups but using the propane heater/furnace either from battery source or generator, ( we have both ) the following is what I have developed we no freezing or slush problem in the morning. The grey water tank is hooked up for discharge to an always carry blue tank so that no material is held in the onboard tank. Then just befor bedtime we back fill the water lines via the kitchen sink's faucet with a solution of 3 to one RV anti freeze/water mix. I do this by hooking up a hose connection to the kitchen faucet's threaded connection and using a plastic squeeze bottle squeezing the bottle to discharge the mix into the pipes till it discharges from the farthes sink faucet which for us is the bathroom. Once pinckish solution discharges from that faucet then I procced to the other side purging both the hot and cold water line effectively to a temp of 10 degrees with that mix. We do have to remember to isolate the water heater from the circut (water heater by-pass) which is already in place as the winterizing option allows us to prevent using RV mix in the water heater's tank. I've used this technique many times including 15 degree overnight with free flowing water in the morning. The Colorado writer's concern should mirror my experiance with 1 week non use with water in the tanks and lines to put his/her mind at ease.

mlts22 wrote:
Some people here in Texas pour cheap vodka or everclear down the city water inlet, run it through all faucets, then blow everything out with compressed air. Even 10% alcohol remaining will push the freeze point of the mixture down to 25 degrees, and over 30%, no worries about freezing until near zero degrees Farenheit. Alcohol also has antiseptic properties. Plus, it won't kill you if you get a bit of it in your drinking water.

This is not a "real" way to winterize, and it definitely is riskier than using the pink stuff, but people in central TX do this on their boats with some success.

Of course, the toilet and sink/tub traps should get RV antifreeze poured down, as that takes very little time and does the job right.

I've even read reports about people winterizing with the el cheapo white wine with some success (it turns into a slush reportedly.) However, I don't feel daring enough to try that.

That would sure make dewinterizing more fun

SkiingSixPack wrote:
I would suggest doing what you said, except blow out the lines after draining them. Use an air compressor set at 40-60 psi with the nipple for this (available at any camping store.) Have one person hold it while opening each faucet until it is blowing dry...2-3 minutes...then move downhill one faucet at a time. Get them all. Don't forget to run your water pump while blowing to get the little bit of water in there.

This is what I'd most likely do.

Some people here in Texas pour cheap vodka or everclear down the city water inlet, run it through all faucets, then blow everything out with compressed air. Even 10% alcohol remaining will push the freeze point of the mixture down to 25 degrees, and over 30%, no worries about freezing until near zero degrees Farenheit. Alcohol also has antiseptic properties. Plus, it won't kill you if you get a bit of it in your drinking water.

This is not a "real" way to winterize, and it definitely is riskier than using the pink stuff, but people in central TX do this on their boats with some success.

Of course, the toilet and sink/tub traps should get RV antifreeze poured down, as that takes very little time and does the job right.

I've even read reports about people winterizing with the el cheapo white wine with some success (it turns into a slush reportedly.) However, I don't feel daring enough to try that.

If you're going to be reasonably close to where it will be stored just keep an eye on the weather forecasts. If temps much below freezing are predicted I would open cabinets where plumbing goes through and run the heat and the water heater on gas for a while to warm things up before leaving.

Drain your tank and all your lines(open your low point drain if you have one)and you'll probably be okay.

Blow it out with a compressor and your're pretty sure to be okay.

Buy three gallons of pink stuff and spend 15 minutes winterizing. You'll be okay.

We have never winterized. Luckily we live in an area where we do not often have sustained cold snaps, but they can happen. When we do have a cold snap we put in an electric heater and open all the cupboard doors.

All our plumbing is over the floor boards. We also have enclosed waste tanks and insulated drain valves.

If I was looking at simple overnight freezing or frosts I would not worry at all.

You can easily put a bit of anti freeze in the drains and into the toilet.

Another option would be to leave your RV at a lower elevation where freezing temps are less likely to occur.

spiffytech wrote:
My understanding from keeping house pipes from bursting is that as long as there's a place for the pressure to go when things freeze (i.e., leave the faucets on), a little bit of water here and there shouldn't hurt anything. Is that wrong?

Part right and part wrong. Yes, water expands when frozen. "just a little water" in the wrong place and frozen can mean a broken pipe or valve.

I would suggest if you can't do the winterization yourself or if it is too much of a headache, to take it somewhere equipped to do it,i.e. someone with an air compressor. After I have my tank and water heater drained, it takes less than 15 minutes to blow the water out and pour the gallon of pink in the traps.

A couple of nights below freezing will not burst pipes period. My rig is currently de-winterized and sanitized for the upcoming season. We go through this every spring and fall for the last 10 years. Once the temps are below freezing for significant parts of the night and daytime temps do not recover much, then it is time to winterize.

We have been hovering around freezing day and night since Tuesday. It is now Friday and we have had 13” of snow and counting since Wednesday evening.

We have a few gallons of water in our tank. This morning I ran the kitchen faucet before I left home, nice cold water with zero flow issues.